tam. 
S.  AMES. 


2-8f{: 

THE.  LAND  OF  THE 

SOUTHERN  CROSS 


VAST,  FRUITFUL, 
LOVELY,  BENIGHTED 


BRAZIL 


By 

THE  BOARD  OF  MISSIONS 
M Eo  CHURCH,  SOUTH 

-*»  tb  .*«»•*  a 

NasHville,  Tenn. 


BRAZIL 


Probably  as  little  is  known  about  Brazil  as 
any  land  in  which  we  are  doing  mission  work. 
There  is  comparatively  little  intercourse  be- 
tween that  country  and  ours.  The  trade  be- 
tween the  two,  while  considerable  and  increas- 
ing, is  not  great.  Not  many  Americans  go 
to  Brazil,  nor  many  Brazilians  come  to  the 
United  States.  Though  situated  on  the  con- 
tiguous continents  of  North  and  South  Amer- 
ica, a long  and  trying  journey  separates  the 
two  countries.  In  their  political  history  there 
has  been  little  contact  between  the  two  na- 
tions. 

Brazil  is  a land  of  vast  resources  and  a 
splendid  future,  but  its  people  have  not  hith- 
erto been  a great  force  in  the  world.  It  is 
practically  without  a literature,  and  in  its  de- 
velopment, which  has  been  slow,  it  has  shown 
few  of  those  striking  features  which  have 
attracted  attention  to  other  countries.  So  it 
has  happened , that  our  people  possess  little 
definite,  detailed  and  accurate  knowledge 
about  Brazil. 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

Physically,  Brazil  is  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable countries  in  the  world.  Its  shape 
suggests  a huge  fan.  Its  handle  is  the  narrow 
strip  that  slips  down  between  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  and  the  Argentine  Republic.  The  body 
of  the  fan  spreads  out  northwestward  toward 
the  Andes  mountains  and  northeastward  along 
the  Atlantic  shore.  It  comprehends  the  heart 
of  South  America.  It  would  take  another 
Texas  added  to  the  United  States  to  make 
this  country  as  large  as  Brazil.  It  is  the 
home  of  summer.  The  four  seasons  to  which 
we  are  accustomed  are  not  distinguished  there. 
It  is  a land  of  flowers  and  fevers.  The  climate 
is  enervating,  especially  to  a constitution  ac- 
customed to  our  colder  and  more  variable 
climate.  It  is  no  wonder  that  our  missionaries 
have  difficulty  in  adjusting  themselves  to  these 
novel  climatic  conditions  and  in  preserving 
their  health.  The  country  is  fertile  and  pro- 
ductive to  a high  degree;  too  much  so  for  the 
good  of  the  people.  The  tropical  products 
grow  in  such  abundance  that  the  people  are 
somewhat  relieved  qf  the  necessity  of  hard 
labor  to  insure  a living,  and  this  is  an  invi- 
tation to  idleness,  to  which  the  climate  is  also 
a constant  temptation. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

Although  the  first  European  colonists  came 
to  Brazil  about  the  same  time  that  the  Pil- 


3 


grim  fathers  came  to  North  America,  the  re- 
sources of  that  splendid  country  are  as  yet 
almost  wholly  undeveloped.  Instead  of  the 
80,000,000  people  who  inhabit  the  States  of 
North  America,  the  last  census  gave  Brazil  a 
population  of  less  than  20,000,000.  There  are 
places  where  gold  nuggets  are  found  lying, 
about  on  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  many 
places  wdiere  good  wages  could  be  made  wash- 
ing the  sand  in  the  streams  for  gold,  and  yet 
gold  mining  is  carried  on  to  a very  limited 
extent.  There  are  railroads  connecting  most 
of  the  larger  cities  near  the  coast,  and  two 
or  three  that  penetrate  the  interior  for  sev- 
eral hundred  miles.  These  roads  have  been 
built  chiefly  by  English  capital  and  are  only 
the  beginning  of  what  is  necessary  to  furnish 
transportation  for  the  people  and  the  prod- 
ucts of  the  soil.  Interior  transportation  is 
chiefly  done  on  two-wheeled  wagons,  whose 
screeching  wooden  axles  announce  their  ap- 
proach for  miles  before  they  come  in  sight, 
pulled  by  ox  teams  over  roads  which  are 
simply  gulleys.  The  transportation  of  his 
farm  produce  by  this  means  costs  the  farmer 
almost  as  much  as  he  can  get  for  it  when 
he  reaches  the  market.  It  is  no  wonder,  there- 
fore, that  Brazilian  trade  plays  such  a rela- 
tively insignificant  part  in  the  world’s  com- 
merce as  it  does  to-day. 


4 


POLITICAL  CONDITIONS. 


Since  1889  Brazil  has  been  a republic,  with  a 
constitution  modeled  after  our  own.  It  is  an 
admirable  constitution.  Four  features  of  it 
are  of  particular  interest  to  us.  The  first  is 
restricted  suffrage.  Among  the  classes  not 
permitted  to  vote  are  those  who  are  ignorant 
of  the  alphabet  and  “members  of  monastic 
orders,  companies,  congregations  or  communi- 
ties of  whatever  denomination,  who  are  sub- 
ject to  vows  of  obedience,  rule  or  statute  which 
implies  the  surrender  of  individual  liberty.” 
Both  of  these  provisions  are  blows  at  the 
Catholic  Church,  for  that  church  fosters  ig- 
norance; and  if  the  second  provision  were 
strictly  enforced,  it  would  rule  out  the  Cath- 
olic clergy  entirely.  That,  of  course,  is  not 
done ; but  this  item  of  the  constitution  shows 
the  trend  of  political  thought  in  Brazil  with 
respect  to  the  Catholic  clergy.  Another  inter- 
esting feature  of  the  constitution  is  the  pro- 
vision for  the  freedom  of  the  press,  which  is 
another  thrust  at  the  genius  of  Romanism. 
But  of  more  interest  still  is  the  provision  for 
religious  liberty.  On  this  point  the  constitu- 
tion is  explicit  and  ample.  “All  persons  and 
religious  professions  may  exercise  publicly  and 
freely  the  right  of  worship,  and  may  asso- 
ciate themselves  for  that  purpose,  acquire  prop- 
erty, etc.”  Civil  marriage  is  required,  and  it 
is  specified  that  it  shall  be  gratuitous.  This 
last  is  a distinct  blow  at  the  clergy,  who,  be- 
fore the  republic  was  established,  were  alone 


5 


authorized  to  perform  the  rite  of  matrimony. 
They  frequently  charged  for  their  services 
such  exorbitant  sums  that  it  was  a source  of 
great  wealth  to  them,  and  often  poor  people 
could  not  pay  fdieTfee.  This  fact  led  to  illegiti- 
mate unions. 

In  all  of  these  respects  the  law  is  all  that  our 
missionaries  could  ask.  But  it  would  be  a mis- 
take to  suppose  that  the  people  practice  these 
broad  principles  of  liberty.  Unfortunately, 
the  law  is  not  enforced.  The  sympathies  and 
prejudices  of  the  masses  of  the  people  are 
overwhelmingly  on  the  side  of  the  Catholic 
clergy  as  against  the  Protestants.  The  offi- 
cials are  either  Romanists  or  intimidated  by 
the  Romanists,  so  that  these  beautiful  laws 
are  in  many  respects  more  of  a dead  letter 
than  a real  check  upon  the  superstitions  and 
fanatical  prejudices  of  the  people.  One  mis- 
sionary tells  how,  when  he  was  maltreated  in 
an  interior  town,  he  went  to  a local  officer 
for  redress,  but  was  dismissed;  how  he  then 
went  to  the  Governor  of  the  State,  and  got  for 
his  pains  this  bit  of  caustic  advice:  “I  sug- 
gest that  you  go  back  to  your  own  country 
and  let  these  people  alone;  they  don’t  want 
your  religion.” 

SOCIAL  CONDITIONS. 

One  of  the  features  of  Brazilian  social  life, 
brought  over  from  Portugal  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  was  the  professional  assassin.  Or- 
ganized bands  of  these  are  still  to  be  found 
6 


in  many  places,  which  are  usually  in  the  serv- 
ice of  the  political  leader  of  the  locality,  who 
protects  them  from  the  law  and  protects  from 
them  whom  he  chooses,  and  uses  them  to  re- 
move inconvenient  obstructions  in  the  way  of 
his  political  ambition.  These  bands  have 
proven  ready  instruments  in  the  hands  of 
fanatical  priests  in  their  work  of  opposing  the 
introduction  of  Protestantism.  Only  a . few 
years  ago  one  of  the  Presbyterian  missionaries 
in  the  town  of  Conhotinho,  about  one  hundred 
miles  in  the  interior  from  the  city  of  Recife, 
was  assaulted  in  the  street, by  one  of  these 
assassins.  He  would  have  been  killed  had 
not  a native  minister  riding  by  his  side  inter- 
posed his  own  person  and  received  the  assas- 
sin’s dagger  in  his  own  heart. 

About  one-third  of  the  people  have  pure 
Portuguese  blood  in  their  veins.  It  was  settled 
and  long  dominated  by  the  Portuguese.  There 
are  a few  Indians  and  many  negroes,  and  a 
large  part  of  the  population  is  of  mixed  or 
mulatto  race.  There  are  no  well-defined  so- 
cial distinctions  between  these  various  classes. 
The  pure  Caucasian  blood  is  preferred,  and 
everyone  desires  the  straight  hair,  which  is 
the  sign  of  that  blood;  but  the  negroes  and 
mulattoes  are  not  socially  debarred. 

The  standard  of  morals  is  very  low.  Truth- 
fulness and  integrity  are  not  common  virtues. 
Social  purity  is  not  the  rule.  One-half  of  the 
number  of  children  are  illegitimate.  Many 
of  the  priests  live  in  open  concubinage,  and 


7 


while  they  would  be  deposed  from  their  office 
if  they  married,  it  is  not  considered  out  of  the 
way  for  them  to  have  their  “families”  and  to 
introduce  their  children.  The  Romish  Church 
has  thus  openly  put  itself  upon  the  side  of  vice 
against  purity.  Society  is  corrupted  in  its 
fountains.  The  sacred  and  beneficent  influ- 
ences of  real  home  life  are  almost  unknown. 
The  low  estimate  put  upon  marriage,  the  prev- 
alence of  illegitimacy  and  the  practices  of  the 
priests  have  broken  down  all  the  safeguards 
of  pure  life.  The  real  facts  of  social  life  are 
horrible,  and  not  to  be  described  in  detail. 

The  people  are  given  to  idleness.  Great 
numbers  seek  to  make  their  living  in  one  way 
or  another  out  of  the  government.  This  lack 
of  thrift  and  energy  is  partly  accounted  for  by 
the  climate,  which  is  very  relaxing.  Another 
prime  cause  of  it  is  the  religious  customs  of 
the  people.  There  are  many  saints’  days, 
which  are  given  up  to  coarse  and  noisy  fes- 
tivities, when  the  people  ought  to  be  at  work. 
It  is  easy  to  see  also  how  the  licentiousness  of 
the  people  is  both  cause  and  effect  of  idleness. 
It  is  a physiological  law  that  licentiousness 
destroys  healthy  energy  and  makes  those  who 
violate  the  law  of  purity  languid,  careless,  and 
indolent.  It  is  also  a well-known  fact  that 
idleness  leads  to  sensuality. 


8 


RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS. 

Romanism  has  had  a free  hand  to  do  its 
best,  or  worst,  for  three  hundred  years.  What 
has  it  done  for  Brazil? 

(a)  It  has  fostered  ignorance.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  after  about  three  centuries  of  Rom- 
ish domination  only  one  in  twelve  of  the  pop- 
ulation can  read  and  write.  Under  its  reli- 
gious tutelage  the  Bible,  the  corner-stone  of 
modern  culture,  has  become  an  unknown  book. 

(b)  It  has  established  idolatry.  Every- 
where in  the  churches  and  homes  are  seen 
images  of  the  Virgin  and  of  the  saints,  which 
are  generally  worshipped  by  the  people. 

( c ) It  has  developed  superstition.  Authen- 
tic examples  of  Romish  superstition  could  be 
given  without  number. 

( d ) It  has  destroyed  the  spirituality  of  re- 
ligion. It  has  put  Mary  above  Christ,  the 
Pope  in  the  place  of  God,  and  made  religious 
conduct  consist  in  obeying  the  foolish  com- 
mandments of  sinful  men. 

( e ) It  has  divorced  religion  from  morality. 
It  proposes  to  put  a man  in  right  relations 
with  God  and  leave  him  free  to  follow  his 
carnal  appetites.  It  makes  a man  religious 
without  making  him  good.  A lying,  lecherous 
man,  who  has  surrendered  his  moral  respon- 
sibility into  the  hands  of  his  superior,  has 
power  to  direct  conduct,  forgive  sins,  to  de- 
liver from  purgatory.  On  the  foundations  of 
ignorance  it  has  built  up  an  idolatrous  eccle- 


9 


siasticism  out  of  the  ruins  of  both  Christianity 
and  morality, 

J "'(f)  And  last,  among  the  thoughtful,  it  has 
produced  its  inevitable  fruit,  infidelity.  The 
cultured  classes,  even  if  they  retain  connec- 
tion with  the  Church,  have  lost  their  faith  and 
are  wandering  in  the  mazes  of  scepticism.^ 

Ought  we  to  send  missionaries  to  this  coun- 
try? The  question  answers  itself.  If  the  gos- 
pel needs  to  be  preached  anywhere  in  the 
world,  it  is  needed  in  Brazil.  And  yet  little 
has  been  done  to  supply  this  vast,  this  urgent, 
this  crying  need.  The  Presbyterians  have  been 
at  work  in  Brazil  nearly  forty  years,  and  have 
accomplished  excellent  results.  The  Metho- 
dists were  the  next  upon  the  ground,  having 
established  their  mission  in  1869,  and  have  had 
good  results.  The  Episcopalians  began  work 
in  1889.  The  Baptists  (Southern)  mission 
was  established  in  1882,  and  the  blessing  of 
God  upon  the  work  has  been  conspicuous.  The 
Presbyterians  began  in  1869.  In  1873  they 
had  two  missions,  North  and  South  Brazil. 

OUR  OWN  WORK. 

We  began  work  in  Brazil  in  1869.  Since 
that  time  the  work  has  grown  immensely.  In 
1879  we  had  only  six  Brazilians  in  our  church; 
now  we  have  5,366,  almost  a thousandfold 
growth  in  twenty-eight  years.  They  are  a 
liberal  people.  In  1906  they  averaged  almost 
$6.00  per  member  in  their  gifts  to  the  church. 

10 


So  far  as  Methodism  is  concerned  the  field 
and  the  responsibility  are  ours.  The  M.  E. 
Church  has  withdrawn  from  the  field  and 
turned  it  over  to  us. 

Last  year  our  nine  schools  showed  an  en- 
rollment of  1,130.  Our  chief  school  is  Gran- 
berry  College  at  Juis  de  Fora.  It  is  embar- 
rassed by  its  very  success.  The  president  is 
pleading  for  enlargement  to  meet  the  demand 
of  a growing  patronage. 

We  have  a prosperous  work  among  the 
Italians  at  Sao  Paulo,  where  there  are  90,000 
in  one  city.  Our  church  here  promises  in  a 
few  years  to  be  self-supporting. 

We  have  also  a mission  to  the  American 
and  English  who  are  going  there  in  increas- 
ing numbers. 

Owing  to  the  growth  of  our  work  and  the 
vastness  of  the  territory,  we  have  been  com- 
pelled to  divide  our  mission  into  two.  The 
South  Brazil  mission  occupies  the  southern 
end  of  the  country.  The  growth  of  the  church 
there  has  been  remarkable.  Five  years  ago 
this  territory  was  taken  over  from  the  M.  E. 
Church.  Then  there  were  about  250  members. 
Now  there  are  nearly  1,000,  and  constantly 
larger  gains.  In  Porto  Allegre  alone  there 
are  two  good  congregations,  almost  self-sup- 
porting. 

In  spite  of  obstacles  we  are  forging  ahead. 
We  are  reaching  a more  intelligent  and  well- 
to-do  class  of  people.  Many  of  our  churches/ 
are  approaching  the  point  of  self-support . 

11 


It  is  the  universal  testimony  that  our  native 
preachers  are  men  of  good  lives,  and  this  has 
great  significance  among  a people  accustomed 
to  a corrupt  priesthood.  The  same  is  true  of 
our  membership.  They  are  exemplifying  the 
fruits  of  the  gospel  in  uprightness  and  steadi- 
ness of  character,  and  for  liberality  they  are 
deserving  of  all  praise. 

Is  there  not  reason  to  hope  that  this  great 
and  fruitful  land  of  the  Southern  Cross  may 
soon  become  indeed  the  land  of  the  Cross, 
over-starred  by  the  light  and  glory  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ? 


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